Arguably the greatest ever North Harbour representative Kirk Penney was deservedly inducted into the Basketball New Zealand (BBNZ) Hall of Fame on Saturday night in Wellington. Held in the Banquet Hall at Parliament the occasion recognised excellence and achievement in our game.

The script and citation for Kirk is reproduced below:

Kirk Penney first laced his basketball shoes for the Milford Primary School miniball team. Little did anyone know at the time that he would go on to be arguably New Zealand’s greatest shooter of all-time.

Kirk was still an 18 year-old at Westlake Boys High School when he played his first game for the Tall Blacks in 1999 and went on to make 179 appearances for the Tall Blacks – all but 7 being Tests.

He scored over 2,000 international points averaging 17.5 points per game – the highest points per game average of the careers that we have scoring records for.

He played at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics and 4 consecutive World Championships between 2002 and 2014.

At both the 2002 and 2006 World Champs the one-two guard combo of Penney and Phill Jones led the NZ scoring.

At the 2010 World Championships in Turkey he opened with 37 against Lithuania going on to be the second highest scorer at the tournament averaging 24.7 points per game. The top 3 scorers in Turkey were Kirk,  Argentinian great Luis Scola and the up and coming Kevin Durant.

He bettered 37 points once in a black singlet scoring 42 against Slovenia in 2010 and holds the record for the four highest single game scores by a Tall Black. 

After High School Kirk spent 4 years at the University of Wisconsin leading the Badgers to the NCAA Final Four in 2000. 

His 1,454 points for Wisconsin represents the most points scored by a Kiwi in Men’s NCAA Division I basketball.

He became just the second Kiwi after Sean Marks to play in the NBA when appearing for the Miami Heat in 2003. 

After stints playing in Spain, Israel, Germany, Lithuania and Turkey he returned to NZ to play for the Breakers. His 38 points in Perth against the reigning champions in 2011 helped the Breakers to an unlikely semi-final victory ahead of the first NBL Championship win secured by the club.

A career high 49 points was posted against Adelaide 36ers in January 2010.

His citation reads:

Kirk was always a role model for me. He blazed the trail for a kiwi going overseas and succeeding at all levels of the sport. Everywhere he went he left his mark as not only an elite marksman but an incredible team mate and person. I followed his career in awe as he always set the bar for excellence so high and achieved so many things that every aspiring young player dreams of. 

I will always remember watching the masterclass that was the 2002 World Cup but even more so it was the view watching him as a team mate that was truly inspiring. An unmatched work ethic, dedication to his craft and a relentless competitive streak I had never seen before. Just as quickly as you could be having a laugh alongside him he would drop 5 threes in your face before you had blinked. 

Truly one of the great NZ basketballers and in my mind the greatest shooter and scorer this country has ever produced. 

Kirk Penney is a richly deserved inductee into the BBNZ Hall of Fame inductee.